Eddie Liu and wife Karen of Ho Choi in Moorooka, which has been open since 1967. Picture: Jamie HansonSource: News Limited

AFTER nearly 50 years of his family serving up the best fried rice and chicken chow mein Jin 'Eddie' Liu has uncovered the secret to a successful Chinese restaurant.

With Chinese New Year celebrations kicking off from Friday, The Sunday Mail has searched the state to find the longest-running Chinese restaurants.

"The secret is the customer knows who we are, and they know we sell a good quality takeaway for them with very friendly service," Mr Liu, 47, said. "We're still very busy and my passion is still there. I work seven days a week."

Along with brothers Edmund and Alex, Mr Liu inherited Ho Choi restaurant at Moorooka, in Brisbane's south, from his uncles 28 years ago when he was just 18 years old.

The business has been running since 1961 in the same location, putting Mr Liu in contention for having the longest-running Chinese restaurant in Queensland.

While there are over 100 items on the menu now, Mr Liu's uncle Tim Chung started the store offering just fried rice, chicken chow mein and sweet and sour pork - which remain favourites.

Icon of the Brisbane dining scene, Augustine Tso, 70, said the first Chinese restaurant was established in Brisbane in the mid-1950s while decades earlier, Chinese cuisine was introduced to regional cities, such as Cairns, thanks to gold mining.

"I think King Do (restaurant) was the earliest (in Brisbane). It was about mid-1950s, it was a very popular restaurant then." Mr Tso said.

"A lot of Chinese settled as early settlers in Queensland especially as a lot of gold miners up north."

Eric and Charles Cheung of Enjoy Inn, in the Valley. Picture: Jamie Hanson

DO YOU KNOW A CHINESE RESTAURANT THAT HAS BEEN RUNNING FOR LONGER?WHERE'S THE BEST IN QUEENSLAND? LEAVE YOUR COMMENT BELOW

While Chinese food continued to boom in Cairns it also spread south to the Tablelands, with one restaurant in Atherton boasting a 31-year history.

"In these last 20 years a lot of Queenslanders are being more adventurous and open to trying different food instead of just fish and chips," Michael Lee, 53, owner of The Pagoda restaurant, said.

Mr Lee took over the restaurant 22 years ago after it had been open for nine years and said the restaurant looks the same as it always has.

The tastebuds of local customers haven't changed either with dishes on the "sweet side", such as honey chicken, still popular.

"People are always a bit surprised that they can get Chinese food to our standard up here in Atherton with the farms and the country," Mr Lee said.

"They say 'You're so busy here you should be in Brisbane or Sydney'."

More than 1000km west, among the red dust and endless stream of mining trucks, stands the Red Lantern in Mount Isa, just as it has for over 40 years. According to current owner Lee Li, who took it over in 2006, the restaurant has been serving tourists and locals combination hot pots and garlic king prawns for 40-plus years.

Michael, Maggie and Marcus Lee of The Pagoda in Atherton.

"I do like that it's got such a long history," Mr Li said.

While in Brisbane Stanley Cheung, 62, has run China Sea restaurant since 1980 and oversaw its relocation to Milton in 2005.

A fixture on the Brisbane dining scene, its popularity shows no signs of waning.

"Customers still enjoy our food and service and still support me - and so I keep enjoying my business," Mr Cheung said.

Mandarin Court at Surfers Paradise claims to be the longest running Chinese restaurant on the Gold Coast after it was established in 1979.

While in Fortitude Valley Enjoy Inn has persevered as a landmark as neighbouring eateries swapped hands and disappeared and Chinatown was literally built around it.

Eric Cheung, 42, and his brother Charles, 33, took over the eatery from their parents who built it in 1983, four years before Chinatown was established.

"We are the oldest in Chinatown … we've watched it be built three times," Eric Cheung said. "I've still got customers who have been coming since 1983 who will come the same day every week and eat at the same table eating the same thing."

Last month the Cheung brothers opened up a new restaurant at Hamilton to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of their business.

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